News In Brief

January 9, 1984

Igls, Austria

Three Olympic teams to use Soviet bobsled

The teams of Italy, Switzerland, and Austria are copying the revolutionary design of a new Soviet two-man bobsled in time for next month's winter Olympics in Sarajevo, West German team sources said Friday.

The torpedo-shaped bobsleds, unveiled in West Germany in November, have helped Soviet teams, previously ranked as outsiders, to a number of course records. The new bob has touched speeds of up to 77 miles an hour.

US coach Stefan Gaisreiter, a West German and former world record holder, called the bob ''the most revolutionary I have ever seen. . . . Aerodynamically, there is nothing to beat it in the world.''